


Blindfold Time

by cecilantro



Series: 100 Days Of Ficlets [49]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 20:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14340750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilantro/pseuds/cecilantro
Summary: Now everyone hold hands...





	Blindfold Time

**Author's Note:**

> The contrast between calebs wingman "beau doesnt like me" and beau holding his hand made my heart hurt so here ya go

_ Beauregard doesn’t like me very much _ .   
He’d tried so hard to make it sound convincing, to convince the others that he was lying to Yasha as Beau’s wingman and, to some extent, he was. He’d hoped to shepherd Yasha in Beau’s direction, to manipulate like a spider web until the two of them fell into the middle together. But to some degree, he had been lying to everyone  _ but _ Yasha.   
Beau doesn’t like him. None of them do, really. He’s powerful, and that’s convenient, he can fight and do magic and he can help to protect them, but they don’t like him. Fjord might have, he thinks, before the High Ricter’s house. Before Caleb apparently betrayed them, put them in danger.   
Well. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that. He doesn’t think he did, this time, and they’re keeping him around, so he suspects he was in the right.   
Yasha blinks at him, slowly, confused.   
She remembers Beau telling her about the time she caught an arrow for him. She remembers the way that Beau speaks of him and it’s odd in its praise, because Beau is naturally not the best at positivity, but the tone and feel of her words around Caleb. Protective. How could Caleb think that Beau doesn’t like him when the way she looks and talks for him is so defensive and loving?   
She takes the throwing stars anyway. Makes a mental note to bring it up to Molly, later.   
  
She catches Molly’s arm in The Evening Nip and pulls him back, just momentarily, as Fjord’s sugar tongue works on the Gentleman.   
“Everything okay?” Molly asks her, settling his hand to her arm in concern, and Yasha hums and nods,   
“I’m fine. Caleb, though…” she looks over to him, huddling a little closer to Nott, Molly follows her eyes and she looks back to him in time to see his face soften into an affectionate smile.   
“Something wrong with Caleb?” Molly’s attention turns back to her and his face re-arranges again into concern and harden.   
“Is… he okay?” words escape her, it’s the best she can do and she trusts Molly wholeheartedly in interpreting her silence more than the words she speaks.   
“Ah, about Beau?” and for good reason, Molly has had the time to understand her. She’s always grateful for that.   
“Yeah, ah, he seems convinced that she doesn’t like him, and I don’t think it’s just… Beau.”   
Molly shakes his head.   
“No, I worry that you’re right, there.” he folds his arms, mirroring Yasha’s stance, “He’s so accustomed to people hating and mistrusting him that he  _ can’t _ accept that people actually care. I could tell him I love him to his face and it just… wouldn’t.”   
Molly realises what he’s said and flushes, Yasha chuckles quietly,   
“I already knew.”   
“Of course you did.”   
“Can’t hide shit from me, Molly.” and she throws an arm around him, lets him cuddle into her shoulder for a few moments before they’re pulled forward by Jester,   
“Blindfold time!”

Molly and Jester have trouble getting the blindfolds tied, owing to their horns and copious chains and baubles and decoration. Yasha eventually has to loosen hers to tie Molly’s, it’s such a practiced motion that Caleb wonders how she knows so much, how she knows how to perfectly tie cloth over Molly’s eyes, and he feels a short burn of jealousy in his throat at the answers his mind helpfully provides.   
Yasha moves to repeat the action with Jester, Caleb feels Beau step into line beside him, her shoulder brushes his, if he didn’t know Beau better he would say that it’s deliberate.   
“Don’t.” He says, quietly, tilts his head just a little toward Beau and she gives the smallest of huffs.   
“Wasn’t gonna.”   
“You know that Jester is yours, and that Yasha is interested, there is no point in getting jealous over something such as this.”   
“Talkin’ more to yourself than to me there, Caleb.” He catches the flash of ice-blue side-eye and winces.   
“Al- alright, fair game, but my point, is, is, still valid.”   
Beau chuckles, the idea that such a quick glance could cause such a stutter and jerks towards him briefly, a jab at his arm with her shoulder.   
They see the Gentleman clap twice and gesture, and Yasha’s blindfold is re-secured, Nott comes in to Caleb and takes a hold of the corner of his jacket.   
Someone ties Caleb’s blindfold and he blinks out of himself, he sees from Frumpkin’s low perspective and Beau, carefully, takes his hand.   
_ You okay? _ Caleb sees her say to him, making sure Frumpkin can read her lips, and he sees his human form nod.   
“ _ Ja _ .”   
Yasha pats for Fjord and takes hold of the bracer on his forearm, Kara leads him by the hand, and he sees Molly lace his fingers between Yasha’s and squeeze. She turns her head to him and smiles, reassuring though he cannot see it, and he takes Jester’s hand on the other side, a tight grip. Beau reaches in the direction the remembers Jester being, finds a tail winding around her wrist.   
“Ready?” Kara asks, and there’s a humming chorus of nervous acceptance and they’re off.

 

It’s like being able to breathe again when Caleb blinks out of Frumpkin’s eyes and opens his own, uncovered, Kara tucks their blindfolds away and passes on instruction. She catches Beau’s arm as she passes to leave.   
“Good luck.”   
Beau eyes her, there’s a still and silent moment, and then she nods, straight-faced,   
“Thanks.”   
Kara and Dweez disappear into the shadows, Caleb surveys the Nein.   
Jester has separated from both Molly and Beau, but hovers close, the ghost of almost a frown on her face, her eyes trail Kara and dart back to Beau’s face. She steps up, a little, to Beau and pouts and Beau laughs quietly, pulls her in for a hug.   
Molly stands oddly close to Yasha, Caleb can see that whilst they’re not holding hands any more, Molly’s arm is linked, looped through Yasha’s, he’s pulled tight to her, as though he’s trying to use her as defence. He can hear them whispering, but can’t make out the words, he catches Yasha’s gaze flick to him a couple of times and bristles.   
And then Molly is being pushed in his direction.   
Yasha steps in beside Fjord as he wrangles the boats, takes a rope and pulls them in a little closer, Fjord barks the order to get in and Jester and Beau split with a kiss so fast that anyone but Caleb would have missed it.   
Molly steps beside Caleb and leans in, hurried,   
“Yasha and I are worried. Are you okay?”   
Caleb frowns at him.   
“ _ Ja _ , I am fine. Something is wrong, Mollymauk, what is it?”   
Molly doesn’t answer, just presses a quick kiss to Caleb’s forehead and flickers off to join Jester in Fjord’s boat.   
“Caleb? You ready?” It’s Yasha, Nott is at his side again, she climbs in first and Caleb second, pausing beside Yasha only momentarily to glance his fingertips over her arm and leave again with the phantom of warmth behind.   
Yasha near jumps into the boat and it rocks, violently, and they take off, sailing along beside Fjord’s boat. He hears Jester and Beau whooping, the light fades on the image of Molly lying as flat to Fjord as he can without interfering with the rowing, the flicker of green-flame jealousy is back in Caleb’s throat again and he swallows it down to spit the incantation for Dancing Lights.   
Beau is leaning on the edge of their boat, eyes to Yasha, who’s too busy rowing to notice and for the split-second after the light illuminates her, Caleb sees genuine adoration and affection in her expression.   
And then she’s visible and it’s gone.   
They land, with some difficulty and hauling from Fjord, and Caleb has never been so glad to have his feet on solid ground. Neither has Molly, by the looks of him, he makes for Yasha but she’s swamped suddenly with Beau and Jester and Nott, Fjord is mooring the boats, he joins Caleb instead, and Caleb wants to make a hurt comment about being a last resort but Molly slips his arms around Caleb’s waist. He’s trembling, shaking like a leaf, and any hurt or anger that Caleb had dies away, he instinctively pulls his arms around Molly’s shoulders and lets the tiefling bury his head in Caleb’s shoulder and exhale, stuttering.   
“Mollymauk.” Caleb says, quietly, “Are you okay?”   
“Don’t. Let go. Not yet. Need this.” Molly mumbles into Caleb’s neck and he fights down a shudder, tightens his arms around Molly’s shoulders and stays quiet.   
“Caleb?” Molly’s voice is muffled.   
“Hm?”   
“Love you.”   
Caleb exhales, slowly.   
“I- In what way?”   
Molly draws himself back, just as slow and careful as Caleb’s breath, and there’s a brief split-second pause before he’s moving in again and pressing his lips to Caleb’s, gentle, but firm, and Caleb’s brain hurts trying to hop over the walls it’s built itself inside, because  _ someone cares about him  _ and something in him wants to disagree. But words, words are easy to lie with, words are worthless, this kiss is not a lie. He knows what a lie feels like in a kiss, and this is Molly laying his soul out for Caleb’s scrutiny.   
He finds that his hands of moved of his own accord to Molly’s face, cupping his jaw, and they draw apart quietly, Caleb tilts to rest his head to Molly’s.   
“Best not die, then.” He says, there’s a glimmer of a smile, Molly mirrors him,   
“I could die happy.”   
“Live happier.” Caleb insists and kisses him again, quicker, they pull apart as Fjord finally stands from his mooring post.   
“Ready t’ fight?” he asks the group.   
They give a chorus of agreement.   
  



End file.
